[OdieLove]

Hi there! We just adopted a 2 month old puppy from the SPCA. They say she's a shepherd mix but we think she also has Chow Chow in her (spotted blue tongue and similar ears) as well as Rottweiler, since her brothers had the colorings of a Rott. We are first-time dog owners but there is a big black lab living in our house and our roommates have a lot of experience training puppies. The black lab and our new puppy get along really well.

I have a couple questions:
1. She whines and barks when she's in the car, do you have any advice on what to do to make her like car rides? We aren't crate training her but today I had to go back for the crate and put her in because she was jumping all over me and the steering wheel. She barked really loudly in the crate for the first 10 minutes, then completely stopped and settled in.

2. I would really like to make sure that when she's older and I have a baby, they will get along. Any advice on what to do to train her to love little kids? I know that breed only goes so far, but I've been reading some stuff about Rott/Chow mixes growling and being aggressive to children. I don't believe that breed determines how a dog is though, as long as we train her well?

Any advice regarding these questions PLUS additional puppy training advice would be greatly appreciated! I love her so much! Also, she is already potty trained to go on puppy pads and we are working on house training her. Thanks!

TLDR; 2 month old rott/chow/shepherd, whines/barks in the car, also want to make sure she will like babies when she's older. Plus, any other puppy advice.

 

[Amaryllis]

First off, congratulations! I highly recommend you go to dogstardaily.com and get the free downloads on caring for puppies. The information will help you so much. You should also like Zak George on Facebook, he's always posting videos and short essays on training dogs. Kikopup on youtube has tons of great videos to help you train your dog.

As to your concerns:

1. Make car rides super mega ultra awesome. Give her really great treats she goes nuts for the whole time she's in the car. She'll learn very quickly that car rides mean great treats and she'll look forward to them.

2. Socialize, socialize, socialize and positive training only. The best way to make sure a dog is calm around children is to expose them to lots of children. That does NOT mean letting children manhandle, slap, tug, poke or otherwise hurt her. That means going near children and giving her great treats. Keeping your training positive ensures that (a) your dog is happy and confident rather than a nervous wreck waiting for the next punishment, and (b) your dog doesn't accidentally associate a punishment with a child across the street and get nasty about children. (It happens.)

3. Always supervise dogs and children. Always. You go to the bathroom, one of them goes with you. You need to cook or clean, one of them goes into a safe place away from the other. Teach your child respect for dogs, do not allow food or toy stealing, slapping, riding, pulling, etc.

 

[OdieLove]

Thank you Amaryllis! These are fabulous suggestions! I'll give her treats at moments when she is quiet in the car. And that website & FB page is awesome. We will be visiting my young niece and nephew this weekend, so I'll be making sure they play nice with the pup. Thank you for your advice

 

[OdieLove]

thank you! she makes my heart so full